Nintendo president dead at 55

[eneuman96]

Sad news today: Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, passed away due to a bile duct growth. He was only 55. Rest in peace, Mr. Iwata. You will be missed.

[Vexer6]

Damn that sucks, i've heard it's surprisingly common for Japanese people to die as a result of overworking, maybe that was the case here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kar%C5%8Dshi

[David]

Damn that sucks, i've heard it's surprisingly common for Japanese people to die as a result of overworking, maybe that was the case here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kar%C5%8Dshi

You realize he had cancer, right?

I lost a parent to cancer at a similar age. Not an especially good way to go. I think he'll ultimately be remembered for all the success the Wii and DS had, and less about the recent struggles of Nintendo. I always enjoyed his Iwata Asks features and E3 appearances.

[Rev]

May he rest in peace.

[Wallyworld]

RIP much respect for this man. They didn't lay off all their great programmers when sales where in the crapper for the 3ds and Wii when any other President would have.

Hope things get better for Nintendo it has been through some rough times lately.

[SigSauerLover]

What now for Nintendo?

With absolutely NO DISRESPECT TO IWATA, he was holding the company back I feel. I wish Reggie was in charge of the grander scheme of things honestly. But we'll see where Nintendo goes now.

[NX17]

This news hit me like a bolder. Despite my convictions I have deep, deep respect for Miyamoto. His wisdom and charisma gave a human face to an increasingly industrial form of entertainment.

Miyamoto? I assume you meant to say Iwata. Miyamoto is now acting CEO with another executive.

Despite Nintendo's current struggles, Iwata was a genius. In today's age it was completely unheard of to take videogame systems and go against the grain by launching with power significantly less than competitors, and barely above standards of the previous generation. But he did it, not only succeeding, but dominating the market.

When things went south with the Wii U, the man took a cut in pay as a sign of dedication. He basically rescued the company with the Wii and DS after some lean times, and did it in a way few CEO's do. By speaking directly to the public and drawing on his own experiences as a developer himself.

[Atarifever]

I go and take a few days break from the internet and come back to this news. Very, very sad. A lot of people might think (because of Wii U) that he wasn't a great Nintendo president. Look at the Wii and DS. Nintendo has only ever made up lost console ground one time, ever, and that was the Wii. And 3DS didn't launch hot, but hardware and software sales are pretrry solid for it now despite the Smartphone market, a market that has killed every other industry it has slotted into (any big players left in MP3 players, PDAs, or alarm clocks?).

Given the time period he steered the ship pretty well. More importantly, he had a vision. A real idea of what he thought the company stood for. Quality games sold at premium prices that retain their value and are fun and appeal to a wide variety of people. Maybe that was an out-dates idea, and maybe they had some changes to make, but it's still an appealingly simple idea about where and what the industry should be.

I will dearly miss him giving information... directly... to us.

[LoganRuckman]

This is sad news for me. Whatever you feel about Nintendo in 2015, Iwata was a true visionary, and unlike a lot of execs and higher ups in the game industry who honestly don't even play games, he wasn't in it only for the money, being a true gamer himself. The man always seemed friendly and gracious with fans, and the fact that he cut his own pay for the sake of the company should show you what kind of person he was. You will be missed.